Kids is Plug & Play studio’s expression of interactive existential angst

When I tried out Playables’ newest game, Kids, I spent a lot of time shoving people into a hole. Like the developer’s last title, Plug & Play, it’s a sparsely illustrated interactive experience that radiates dark humor and discomfort. That, along with the game’s unique black-and-white hand-drawn aesthetic, attracted publisher Double Fine Presents. Kids will be out later this year for PC and mobile devices.

Plug & Play explored the inherent awkwardness of navigating relationships and sexuality, and according to Steam Spy, which relaunched its service in April after Valve enacted a new privacy policy, it sold between 100,000 to 200,000 copies. With Kids, Playables investigates the compromises and consequences of belonging to a social group. The hands-on demo I played on an iPad was about 10 minutes long — the full game won’t be much longer, about 30 minutes according to the developer’s website — and a black hole was one of the recurring motifs.